Baseball: Southern Section playoff pairings

BASEBALL         

SOUTHERN SECTION

DIVISION 1

Wild-card games, Tuesday, 3:15 p.m.

A--Huntington Beach at King

B--Simi Valley at El Modena

C--Riverside North at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame

D--Servite at Thousand Oaks

E--Westlake at Valencia

F--Mission Viejo at Santa Margarita

G--Alemany at Canyon Springs

H--Brea Olinda at Long Beach Wilson

 

First round, Thursday, 3:15 p.m.

Winner wild-card A at #1 Mater Dei

Capistrano Valley at Riverside Poly

Canyon Country Canyon at Loyola

Winner wild-card B at Lakewood

Winner wild-card C at Agoura

Millikan at Trabuco Hills

Norco at Marina

Winner wild-card D at #4 Anaheim Canyon

 

Winner wild-card E at at #3 Harvard-Westlake

Long Beach Poly at El Dorado

Winner wild-card F at Corona Santiago

Winner wild-card G at Fountain Valley

Chaminade at Orange Lutheran

Los Alamitos at West Ranch

Arlington at Moorpark

Winner wild-card H at #2 El Toro

 

 

DIVISION 2

Baseball: Capturing the championship moment

In baseball, the dogpile is what teams do after winning a championship, and even though it can lead to unfortunate injuries, a photo says it all about the thrill of victory.

On Friday night, Crescenta Valley rallied in the seventh inning to pull out a 5-4 victory over Arcadia to claim a share of the Pacific League title. And the Falcons' excitement was captured with the photo above.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Photo credit: Leon Laub

Baseball: Some amazing pitching stats

The Southern Section baseball playoff pairings will be released Monday afternoon, but I'd like to focus on two pitchers who've had amazing seasons.

One is senior Parker Merritt of La Verne Bonita. I've never seen stats like this from a starting pitcher: He has walked just one batter in 71 innings. He's 8-0 with an 0.69 ERA.

He doesn't throw very hard, but he throws strikes better than some bowlers. And, in high school, throwing strikes means you're going to be successful.

The other pitcher who's had a fantastic season is junior Jack Flaherty of Studio City Harvard-Westlake. Most had predicted Flaherty's future would be as a hitter, but look at these stats this season: 10-0, 0.72 ERA, 85 strikeouts in 68 innings, seven walks.

As a freshman and sophomore, Flaherty couldn't win a playoff game on the mound. I have a feeling that's going to change this coming week.

The key for Harvard-Westlake's Division 1 chances will be to get No. 2 pitcher Conor Cuse (7-1, 2.06) to throw strikes. His 24 walks in 57 2/3 innings is what will make Coach Matt LaCour a little nervous.

But the Wolverines are the only team to own wins over Oaks Christian ace Phil Bickford and Reseda Cleveland ace Jack Hartman.

-- Eric Sondheimer

 

Baseball: City playoff pairings

BASEBALL

CITY

DIVISION I

Wild-card games, Wednesday, 3 p.m.

#17 Maywood at #16 Verdugo Hills

#20 Arleta at #13 Los Angeles Hamilton

#19 Los Angeles University at #14 Birmingham

#18 Carson at #15 Venice

 

First round, May 22, 3 p.m.

Verdugo Hills/Maywood winner at #1 San Fernando

#9 Sun Valley Poly at #8 Bell

#12 Granada Hills at #5 Narbonne

Los Angeles Hamilton/Arleta winner at #4 Wilmington Banning

Birmingham/Los Angeles University winner at #3 Chatsworth

#11 Los Angeles Marshall at #6 El Camino Real

#10 Granada Hills Kennedy at #7 San Pedro

Venice/Carson winner at #2 Cleveland

 

Notes: Quarterfinals, May 24, 3 p.m.; semifinals, May 29 at USC (3 and 6 p.m.). Championship, June 1 at Dodger Stadium, 1 p.m.

 

 

DIVISION II

Baseball: Port of L.A. is No. 1 seed in City Section Division III

Port of Los Angeles is the No. 1 seed for the City Section Division III baseball playoffs. East Valley is No. 2, Sherman Oaks CES No. 3 and Animo Venice No. 4.

No. 16 Camino Nuevo at No. 1 Port of L.A.
No. 9 Harbor Teacher Prep at No. 8 Vaughn
No. 12 Northridge Academy at No. 5 LACES
No. 13 Sun Valley at No. 4 Animo Venice

No. 14 Bright Star at No. 3 Sherman Oaks CES
No. 11 Central City at No. 6 Rancho Dominguez
No. 10 Fulton at No. 7 Elizabeth
No. 15 Animo Robinson at No. 2 East Valley

-- Eric Sondheimer

Baseball: Dorsey is seeded No. 1 for Division II playoffs

Coliseum League champion Dorsey has been given the No. 1 seed for the City Section Division II playoffs.

The pairings:

No. 17 Robert Kennedy or No 16 Locke at No. 1 Dorsey
No. 9 Grant at No. 8 Lincoln
No. 12 Los Angeles at No. 5 Huntington Park
No. 13 Franklin or No. 20 Panorama at No. 4 Van Nuys

No. 14 Roybal or No. 19 West Adams at No. 3 Eagle Rock
No. 11 Crenshaw at No. 6 Hollywood
No. 10 Torres at No. 7 Gardena
No. 15 King-Drew or No. 18 Chavez at No. 2 South East.

First-round games are May 22.

Wild-card games are May 15.

Quarterfinals are May 23, semifinals are May 30 and championship game is June 1 at 10 a.m. at Dodger Stadium.

-- Eric Sondheimer 

Baseball: San Fernando receives No. 1 seed for Division I playoffs

San Fernando, the Valley Mission League champion with a 29-3 overall record, has received the No. 1 seed for the City Section Division I baseball playoffs. Cleveland is No. 2, Chatsworth No. 3 and Banning No. 4.

City Section Division I playoff pairings

No. 17 Maywood or No. 16 Verdugo Hills at No. 1 San Fernando
No. 9 Poly at No. 8 Bell
No. 12 Granada Hills  at No. 5 Narbonne
No. 20 Arleta or No. 13 Hamilton at No. 4 Banning

No. 14 Birmingham or No. 19 University at No. 3 Chatsworth
No. 11 Marshall at No. 6 El Camino Real
No. 10 Kennedy at No. 7 San Pedro
No. 15 Venice or No. 18 Carson at No. 2 Cleveland

Wild-card games: No. 17 Maywood at No. 16 Verdugo Hills;  No. 20 Arleta at No. 13 Hamilton; No. 19 University at No. 14 Birmingham; No. 18 Carson at No. 15 Venice.

Wild-card games are Wednesday, May 15

First-round games are Wednesday, May 22. Quarterfinals are Friday, May 24. Semifinals are Wednesday, May 29 at USC. Finals are Saturday, June 1 at Dodger Stadium, 1 p.m.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Baseball: Friday scores

BASEBALL

BASELINE LEAGUE

Los Osos 4, Glendora 3

Upland 4, Etiwanda 3

 

BAY LEAGUE

Peninsula 5, Redondo 1

 

CENTURY LEAGUE

Esperanza 7, Brea Olinda 4

 

COASTAL LEAGUE

Rolling Hills Prep 11, New Roads 7

 

DELPHIC LEAGUE

Windward 6, Downey Calvary Chapel 1

 

EAST VALLEY LEAGUE

Baseball: Ted Boeke's three-run home run saves Crescenta Valley

With Crescenta Valley on the verge of defeat, Ted Boeke stepped to the plate in the top of the seventh inning and hit a three-run home run to wipe out a 4-2 deficit and lift the Falcons past Arcadia, 5-4, to earn them a share of the Pacific League championship.

Crescenta Valley and Burbank each finish 12-2. Burbank defeated Burroughs, 4-1. Burbank hasn't won or shared a league title since 1991.

Brian Gadsby was the winning pitcher for Crescenta Valley, which is 20-7 overall.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Baseball: Harvard-Westlake finishes in first place

Since the opening week of the Mission League, Studio City Harvard-Westlake has been trying to play catchup after early stumbles.

In the final regular-season game on Friday night, the Wolverines (23-4, 9-3) came through with a 14-0 victory over St. Francis to earn a share of the league championship with Loyola and gain the No. 1 seed via a coin flip. It's the third consecutive year the Wolverines have won or shared the Mission League title.

Harvard-Westlake's main challenge has been trying to win with a No. 2 pitcher after ace Jack Flaherty usually dominates early in the week.

Conor Cuse got the call on Friday. He allowed one hit and struck out seven in five shutout innings. Arden Pabst and Joe Corrigan had two-run singles. Daniel Davila had two hits.

Harvard-Westlake is expected to be one of the top four seeds when the Southern Section pairings are released on Monday afternoon.

-- Eric Sondheimer